Johnny Roppongi
Johnathon Sean Matthews '''(Born March 12, 1987) is an American professional wrestler who is currently signed to the Profession Grappling Association. He consistently patterns his wrestling style after various junior-heavyweight wrestlers from Japan, oftentimes copying moves created by such wrestlers. Matthews is best known under the persona of '''Johnny Roppongi. Matthews named his wrestling gimmick after a district in Tokyo, Japan, famous for its nightlife. Matthews has toured several Japanese indy promotions, most notably a small group known as Super Star Productions (SSP). Due to his small connection to Japan, and his wrestling style, Matthews is a self proclaimed "nagaphile", a fan of all things Japan. He's semi-fluent in Kanji, and is able to communicate rather easily with Japanese wrestlers and fans. Career Early Life Matthews was born to Brian and Marsha Matthews in 1987 in Bangor, Maine. He lived a fairly middleclass life in a suburb just outside Bangor, going to school until 2005. He attended Fort Kent University for a year, until he dropped out at age nineteen to pursue his dream of becoming a pro wrestler. At an early age, Matthews discovered a fascination with anime and manga, and eventually, with the Japanese culture as a whole. This eventually got Matthews hooked on Japanese wrestling, which he watched via bootlegged tapes and internet videos. Johnny got his chance to become a wrestler when noted Maine independent, the "Maine Man" Joey Gordon, opened a wrestling school just outside Fort Kent. Matthews dropped out of college to train and wrestle full time. Early Career (2006-2008) Matthews trained with Gordon for six months, until venturing out on his own into the world of independent wrestling. Due to his connection to Gordon, Matthews was able to get bookings on some of the premier Maine independents, such as Maine Organized Wrestling (MOW), Associated Independents of Maine (AIM), and perhaps most notable, the Maine Wrestling Association (MWA). It was during his time in MWA that Matthews's Japanese influence began to show, with him performing random moves most associated with wrestlers from Japan (often times breaking out an Exploder Suplex, or an Emerald Flowsion). Matthews also started to wear headbands and Noh masks on his way to the ring, and for a short time even carried a katana sword, until it became apparent from his lack of usage that he didn't actually know how to use a sword. Eventually, Matthews branched out, and started to travel further into America, eventually starting a long time stint with POWER Pro Wrestling. While in POWER Pro, Matthews dropped the Noh mask from his act, instead adopting a kimono to his entrance gear, and began writing his name on his gear in Kanji (it was also around this time that Matthews began to learn the language). Around the time of POWER Pro's Terrific Tag Team Tourney (The T4) Matthews formed a long lasting tag team with a wrestler named Eriq Morter, also known for his use of Japanese moves, named the Kings of Puroresu. The team eventually split for unknown reasons, and Morter currently wrestles for mid-west independents. Japan and Super Star Productions (2007-) Matthews made a brief tour of Japan in 2007, wrestling for a company called Full Contact Martial Arts and Wrestling League (FCMAWL), noted for its deathmatch style of wrestling. Matthews competed in the opening round of the promotion's Tournament of Dying, in a match that is infamous for being the least bloody bout of the evening, as Matthews flat out refused to use any kind of weapon (outside of a chair, which he only used to crack his opponent in the buttocks with). The following evening, during the semi-finals, Matthews legitimately knocked out his opponent with a rolling elbow. His opponent, another gaijin known as Tommy 2 Badd, had stiffed him in the middle of the match, and audibly called Matthews a "pussy" for not using any weapons, prompting Matthews to fight back. Eventually, Matthews met a wrestler by the name of MIDORI during POWER Pro's Invasion of the Green Card Snatchers shows (shows that prominently featured foreign wrestlers). MIDORI invited Matthews to work for his home promotion of Super Star Productions, notable for its blend of comedy and high-flying wrestling. Matthews first began working for SSP in the beginning of 2008, losing his debut match to Koga Kobayashi, one of the promotion's top stars. Matthews did however manage to impress both the fans and the bookers of the promotion when he hit a lariat that Kobayashi sold by flipping over twice. Matthews's role in the company grew when he joined the DANCE DANCE stable with Petey Rogers and MIDORI. The group's gimmick of being club crashers who enjoyed the Japanese nightlife, danced during their entrances (and their matches), and dressed in popular Japanese fashion was a huge hit in SSP. The stable lasted for a solid year until Petey Rogers left the group to join the GAY-JIN stable, a group of effeminate and conceited foreigners. It was during his time in DANCE DANCE that Matthews adopted the Roppongi surname and dyed his hair orange. Much of Matthews's tenure in SSP revolved around his chase of the Heavy Metal Take a Ride Heavyweight Championship Title Belt (the title's official name). As well as several hard hitting and entertaining encounters for the belt against the likes of Kobayashi and Kickboxer Ryuu, Matthews also wrestled in many of SSP's famous comedy matches featuring inanimate objects, such as Ken Taki (a Ken doll), Tokyo Rose (a single rose), and Chris Gyro (a gyro sandwich). Matthews finally ended his chase by eating Chris Gyro outside of a parking lot gyro stand. Matthews celebrated his win for all of ten seconds, when Jenny Hoshino (SSP referee and somtimes performer) "hit" Matthews with her car, rolled him underneath it, and counted out a pinfall, awarding the title to her car. Matthews later lamented that he "never even got to strap the title on." Matthews continued to work between SSP and POWER Pro until October of 2009, when he received a call to work for PGA. Due to a working agreement between PGA and AAPW, Johnny has been allowed to work in Japan on a few shows for AAPW. Johnny has also made a few return appearanances for SSP, wrestling under a mask and the moniker of "Johnny Eiyuu (Johnny Hero)." Pro Graps Association (2009-) Matthews started his PGA career with dark matches and unaired Bear Ordered Wrestling cards. Matthews eventually debuted on PGA's Primetime Wednesday with a victory against Griffin Dorff. Later on in the night, Matthews met with MAKOTO and SEGATA of the Cool Kids Far East. Matthews conversed with the two in their own language, and seemingly asked the two to join their group. MAKOTO, either impressed with his guile or amused with his antics, seemed to allow Matthews to join. Matthews has seemed to have changed his gimmick to that of a nagaphile, deeply revering anyone and anything from Japan. He's expressed interest in meeting Bubblegum Kimiko, and has tried to reach out to Brian Genius, but nothing has come from either endeavor. On the December 30, 2009 edition of PTW, Brian Genius announced that Matthews had been accepted into the Cool Kids' ranks, and his first official match as a Cool Kid pitted him and his partners (Genius and MAKOTO) against Raijin Narukami, Slyclops IX, and Griffin Dorff. Roppongi wrestled much of the match for his team, and although pleased with being in the ring with Raijin Narukami, was easily outclassed by the world-class Japanese superstar. The match was won when Genius tagged in at the last second to pin Dorff with a surprise roll-up. The following week, Matthews was booked into a match with Narukami. After both men entered, MAKOTO entered as well, bringing out Bubblegum Kimiko to act as a cheerleader/incentive for winning the match. Matthews surprised the veteran Narukami several times throughout the encounter, but eventually fell to a stampede Cradle Shock. A bunch of stuff happened after that, such as losing a hard fought match to Brutal Chambers, losing a hard fought five-way match to crown the first PGA Broadcast Champion, and losing a hard fought match against Snake Eyes in the latter's first defense of the title. Maybe if Johnny would stop fighting so hard, he might win a singles match or two. Roppongi currently teams with "Crimson Skies" Josh Brown as a part of the popular tag team known as the Red Sons. Despite mixed feelings about his tag partner, the two work very well together. The two managed to beat the PISANS-5 in a two on three handicap match to gain entry into the Remain Alive Trios Tournament, and later teamed with Brian Genius to defeat the Cool Kids Rusty Cooledge, Dallas Leto, and Steve Riddick in the first round match. In wrestling *'Finishing moves' **''Tokyo Gore Drop'' (Backbreaker rack dropped into facebuster) **''Johnny no Kachi!!'' (Running lariat transitioned into pin) *'Signature moves' **''Running knee to rope draped opponent'' **''Running lariat'' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgInH0M_ccw) **Backdrop suplex with bridge pin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWeudsc-dXo) **Elbow suicida (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIRQvqgZMiE) **Springboard Clothesline (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfiKBtK-U4U) *'Nicknames' **''The Good Time Gaijin'' - SSP **''The Strong Style Saint with a King's Road Attitude'' - POWER Pro **''The Gaijinger'' - Unofficial nickname *'Entrance Music' **The Pillows - Last Dinosaur - Current PGA theme **Theme from Trigun - Early Maine independents **The Pillows - Super Trampoline School Kid - POWER Pro/FCMAWL **Theme from Crayon Shin Chan (Party Party) - SSP/DANCE DANCE theme Championships and Accomplishments *'Super Star Productions' **''Heavy Metal Take a Ride Heavyweight Championship Title Belt'' External links *Johnny Roppongi on Tumblr